


Above and Beyond

by OccupationLove



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Al is a single parent, Alternate Universe - Teachers, First Meetings, Gen, Lud is his daughter's teacher, M/M, Oneshot, Pre-Relationship, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 14:05:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19813834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccupationLove/pseuds/OccupationLove
Summary: Alfred finally meets his daughter's Kindergarten teacher





	Above and Beyond

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short story to fulfill a short prompt I was given a couple of months ago. I hope you all like it.

“Daddy come on! I wanna look at the pictures!”

Honestly, what Ellie was shouting made absolutely no sense considering the section that she was currently trying to pull him from was the comic book section but he knew what she meant. She was pointing in the direction of the children’s section where she knew she could find stories about a happy llama family and books about sleepy kittens. Alfred smiled down at his four year old daughter before sweeping her up into his arms and planting a huge sloppy kiss on her cheek. She giggled and pointed again. “Go! Go!”

He nestled the  _Spider-man_ comic he had been looking at back into its place in the bins and set off for the books she wanted to see. Ellie had just started kindergarten two weeks before and her desire to read had skyrocketed. He was grateful to her teacher if only because he had never been able to convince her to pick up any book besides her bedtime stories. He wasn’t sure what sort of magic was going on in her classroom but he certainly approved of it. 

Upon reaching the children’s aisle, he softly placed Ellie in front of him and watched as she started avidly browsing the picture books in front of her. He had to stop himself from laughing when she placed a fist under her chin in serious contemplation. She truly was something else entirely; the freckles speckled across her face formed constellations and her bright blue eyes sparkled with interest.

Smiling from ear to ear, Alfred joined her in the search for a perfect book. His daughter, however, had other plans. Without warning, Ellie turned on her heel and started running down the aisle and away from him. She was several steps away before he was able to process what was happening and dash after her. “Ellie, wait!”

She turned around the end of the aisle and disappeared out of his sight; so, he picked up speed and threw himself around the corner. Instead of the smooth turn he was expecting, however, he slammed straight into the solid chest of another man and found himself tumbling to the ground awkwardly wrapped around the unsuspecting stranger. As soon as they both hit the floor, Alfred scrambled backward, hands around his face in surrender. “Sorry!”

Disoriented from his position on the floor, he began to look around wildly for Ellie. 

“Look, Daddy! It’s Mr. Beilschmidt!”

Eyes snapping back to the man in front of him, Alfred finally spotted Ellie hovering just behind...Mr. Beilschmidt? Wait! That was the name of her Kindergarten teacher wasn’t it? Mr. Beilschmidt pushed himself to his feet before scanning over Alfred with his bright blue eyes. “You’re Ellie’s father, then? You should be more responsible.”

Part of Alfred wanted to fight the claim but he had just lost sight of his only daughter in a bookstore. It didn’t get any more irresponsible than that. Still, he didn’t need to be told what his flaws were. He heard them enough from his brother. Regardless, he didn’t need to be starting a fight with the teacher that had made Ellie love reading. So, he pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand in greeting. “Sorry about that! My name is Alfred Jones and I’m Ellie’s dad. You’re her teacher aren’t you?”

Mr. Beilschmidt ignored the outstretched hand and glared at him. “You’d have known that if you had come to meet me when the rest of the parents did.”

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Al responded, “Yeah sorry about that; I had to work.”

“And the person who brought Ellie was her uncle, yes?”

Alfred nodded. “Yeah. My older brother demanded to take her.”

Personally, he believed that Arthur’s obsession with being involved with Ellie stemmed from his absence during Alfred’s own childhood. Of course, there was no need for the Kindergarten teacher to know that. Besides, Beilschmidt was already looking at him like he was one of the worst parents on the planet; giving him weird personal details wasn’t going to make him like Alfred any more.

Beilschmidt sighed and looked away. “Listen, I know that all parents have responsibilities outside of their children but you should really prioritize Ellie’s life. You should have met me before now. All the other parents have.”

“But, work….”

Stern eyes darted back to Alfred’s face. “So you should have scheduled another meeting with me. Don’t you care who is teaching your daughter?”

Alfred blinked, bewildered. “I didn’t know…”

“So, check next time,” with those final words, Beilschmidt walked around Alfred and out of his line of sight. Alfred was left staring down at his overly amused daughter. “Daddy got scolded by Mr. Beilschmidt,” she said with a big grin on her face.

And suddenly, he couldn’t help but laugh. Ellie started giggling with him; so, he swept her into his arms and put their noses together. After a couple of minutes, the two of them finally settled down and took a deep breath. Still smiling, Alfred pointed back to the children’s aisle. “Let’s pick out a book, okay?”

Ellie nodded so he set her back down and watched as she rushed back to where she had been standing before she dashed off. Above the shelves, he could see Beilschmidt buying several children’s books. Briefly, he wondered how many books were in the guy’s classroom. He made a mental note to schedule a meeting with him, after all.

* * *

Alfred wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he walked into Ellie’s classroom but he certainly wasn’t expecting this much color. Almost every surface in the room was one bright color or another. Which made sense considering it was a room meant for five-year-old kids. Still, the contrast between the vibrancy of room and the man standing in the room was startling. Beilschmidt, dressed in grey slacks and a white button up shirt, was reorganizing a small library of children’s books. None of the students were present in the classroom; this was a private meeting, after all. Beilschmidt barely spared him a glance as he moved to sit at the desk in the back corner. “Finally felt like it was necessary to see your daughter’s classroom, huh?”

Alfred laughed. “Yeah, gotta see what the fuss is about! So, teacher, what’s next on the lesson plan?”

Beilschmidt’s eyes widened, obviously caught off guard by the question. “Um, well… I was. They’re supposed to start with numbers and colors this week and…”

Al grinned, amused by how flustered the other man seemed to be. He found himself wandering over to the bookshelves. He could recognize several of the books Ellie had at home. He read some of them to her at bedtime and others in the middle of the day. Still, there were tons of books that he had never seen before. He wondered if Beilschmidt had read them to Ellie in class already or if it was worth his time to buy them himself. Which ones would Ellie like the most? 

“She really likes these ones.” Suddenly, (or maybe he’d been there the whole time) Beilschmidt was standing next to him, pointing at a series of books featuring a turtle as the protagonist. Ellie loved turtles. “Sounds like her.”

Beilschmidt nodded. “Actually, I bought these books for Ellie, specifically. When she started school this last semester, I noticed that she wasn’t very fond of reading and it’s my job to make sure the students are learning and enjoying it. So, I kept alternating the stories I was reading to them. Still, nothing seemed to interest her. Then, I heard her talking to the other kids about turtles and thought it was worth a shot. Anyway, it seemed to work; she always asking for another story now.”

Alfred stared at Beilschmidt, stunned. No one but Arthur and himself had ever gone out of their way for Ellie. Maybe the guy was just doing his job but Al didn’t know any other person that would have bought books specifically to fit the interests of their students. Yet, Beilschmidt looked so serious. He wasn’t looking for praise, just informing a student’s father about his daughter’s interests. Al grinned. “You’re pretty great at your job, you know?”

Beilschmidt’s cheeks dusted pink as he looked away. Al threw an arm over his shoulder, “Hey, what’s your first name?”

“Ludwig.”

Alfred laughed. “Well, Ludwig, what do say we hang out sometime?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, quietly jogging to the door like a middle-schooler with a crush. “I’ll email you!”

And he headed home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a review and some kudos if you're feeling up to it.


End file.
